Chicago vs Philadelphia: Game One

Despite a strong fightback towards the end of the final quarter, the Chicago Bulls took the series lead with a win against the Sixers at home. However, the focus of this game turned out to be Derrick Rose’s knee injury in the dying minutes. With the Sixers surging somewhat, Rose was left on the floor to perhaps quell any thoughts of a Philly resurrection. Then the worst possible thing for Bull’s fans happened. As he was driving towards the ring Rose jumped and landed, falling to his feet grimacing. Despite no contact whatsoever, Rose collapsed and had to be helped off the court. Unfortunately for him, he ended up tearing his ACL, ruling him out for the rest of the playoffs and seriously hurting the Bulls championship chances. To put it simply, the Bulls cannot get past Miami without Derrick Rose in the lineup. Yet now they will have to face that reality for the rest of their playoff run.

“I do not work backwards like you guys. The score was going the other way. He’s got to play. We sat him to about the 7-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Derrick has to work on finishing, on closing. Our team did not handle that part great. That’s what I was thinking.”

Thibodeau explaining his decision to keep Rose in the game.

Rose led the Bulls with 23 points before he was felled by injury while Elton Brand had 19 to lead the Sixers. Veteran guard Richard Hamilton also turned in a good game, only missing one shot on his way to 19 points.